


Our Pas de Deux

by hiza-chan (callunavulgari)



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ballet, Dancing, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-27
Updated: 2012-04-27
Packaged: 2017-11-04 09:53:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/392517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callunavulgari/pseuds/hiza-chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dancing is Penelo's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Our Pas de Deux

**Author's Note:**

> Written for midnightdiddle at my awesome ladies meme. Because the girls are awesome and I don't write about them nearly enough.

Penelo's been dancing for as long as she can remember. She has vague half memories of her mother enrolling her in the posh ballet school down the street, of the scent of freshly mowed grass seeping in through the window on the ride to class, of being breathless with excitement after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  
  
She remembers cop cars and flashing lights, the night the rain was coming down in buckets and all the parents had parked illegally at the curb so they didn't get their slippers wet. Her mother's soft smile and the way she'd asked "Well, Pen, are your feet wet?"  
  
And when she'd grinned, gap toothed and pleased, shaking her head, her mother had leaned into the back seat, pressing a kiss to her brow and saying, "Well it was worth it then, wasn't it?"  
  
Penelo kept dancing after her parents died.  
  
She'd had to downgrade, convincing the orphanage to let her enroll in the cheap school in the shady part of town. It wasn't bad though. She met Vaan her second week at the orphanage, and he'd grinned and declared her his soul mate. He'd walked her to practice every night afterwards, and even if they weren't soul mates, they did become best friends.  
  
Over the years her dancing grew with her. She branched out, ballet all soft, quiet movements- more about grace than anything else. Jazz was faster, about exuberance and choreography. Tap dancing was awful. She learned salsas and tangos, and during her rebellious teenage years Penelo followed Vaan out to clubs, watched him swindle people out of their money and fell into an altogether different type of dancing.  
  
There were raves and acid trips, and she could barely feel herself dancing because neon rainbows were doing their own dances across the insides of her skull.  
  
She thinks she likes ballet best though, and doesn't know if it's because it was her first love or if it's because it was the only thing her parents had ever taken part in.  
  
When Penelo's nineteen, she moves back to the posh ballet studio she'd once gone to and it's there that she meets Ashe.

Ashe is older, rich and beautiful, all long legs and pale, soft features. She's brilliant at what she does, graceful in ways that Penelo's never seen. Penelo is probably just a little bit jealous, because Ashe has two gorgeous, rich friends. A tall girl with caramel skin and pale hair who's always dressed like a movie star and a slick, older man with an accent. They pick her up after practice sometimes, and Penelo watches the older girl pack up and call a soft greeting, listens to the click-clack of Fran's stilettos and the whisper-soft steps of Ashe's ballet slippers.  
  
Most of the time Ashe turns back and gives her a smile, calling out a quick goodbye before disappearing around a corner.  
  
Penelo is a little bit jealous, even if she thinks that Ashe is lovely and she tells Vaan so- tells him how much she wants to _be_ Ashe. He laughs at her, tousles her hair a bit and tells her, "Pen, you will always be better than any of those girls."  
  
She doesn't really believe it until she's going up against Ashe for the leading part in Swan Lake. Unsurprisingly, after the auditions, Ashe is declared Odette. What _is_ a surprise is the fuss Ashe kicks up about it. She shouts at the directors and Penelo isn't sure why until Ashe comes up to her, flushed with anger and says, apologetically, "You should have gotten the part."  
  
Ashe refuses to take part until the directors give in, and they come to a compromise, giving Penelo the part of Prince Siegfried. Ashe is still ridiculously apologetic about the whole thing, and mutters under her breath about how the studio's afraid her father will revoke his funding if they don't give her the part. Penelo doesn't really understand how casting a female as the male lead is less controversial, but she isn't going to complain.  
  
The night of the production, Ashe kisses her. It's sweet and soft, makes Penelo clench her hands into the curtain, because she finally pinpoints the happy feeling that she gets whenever Ashe is around. When Ashe pulls away, her eyes are wicked as she smirks, "For practice," her breath teasing Penelo's lips.  
  
They're told that the production is the best in years, that their chemistry was remarkable, and that they've both been offered a scholarship for Julliard. The smiles they exchange after being told this are soft, secretive. When Ashe curls her hand into Penelo's, her heart soars.


End file.
